On January 20, 2026, Makina Finance suffered a flash-loan exploit that drained about $5 million from its DUSD/USDC Curve pool through oracle manipulation. According to CertiK and TenArmor, the attacker borrowed 280 million USDC at 03:40 UTC, used 170 million USDC to skew the oracle, then traded 110 million USDC and later moved 1,299 ETH. Makina said only DUSD LP positions on Curve were affected and urged withdrawals.

Portugal's gambling authority ordered Polymarket to halt domestic operations within 48 hours after heightened activity around the first-round presidential vote. The platform still lists markets for the February 8 runoff, with the winner market showing over $121M in trading volume, even as local access may be curtailed.

On January 20th, 2026 in Singapore, Pendle announced a major upgrade to its native token with the introduction of sPENDLE, designed to deepen liquidity, streamline governance, and refine its revenue model. In 2025 the protocol reported an average TVL of about $5.7B, a peak TVL near $13.4B, and roughly $44.6M in total fees, alongside growing activity from the Boros onchain funding rate venue. The new token mechanics include buybacks funded by protocol revenue, a 14-day withdrawal period or instant redemption fee, and an algorithmic emission system that reduces PENDLE emissions while enhancing allocation efficiency.

Solana-based platform Pump.fun introduced Pump Fund to finance startups and announced a $3 million Build in Public Hackathon. According to Pump.fun, 12 projects will each receive $250,000 at a $10 million valuation with mentorship, and applications opened on January 19, 2026. The first winner is slated to be selected and funded on February 18, 2026.

In a Tuesday submission, the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Professionals Association urged regulators to retain the de minimis exemption that lets Type 9 asset managers allocate under 10% of a fund's gross assets to virtual assets without a separate licence. The group warned that abolishing this threshold and mandating SFC-licensed custodians could raise costs, constrain private equity and venture funds, and discourage traditional managers from experimenting with limited crypto exposure.

On 20 January 2026, Bermuda announced a partnership with Coinbase and Circle following talks at the World Economic Forum in Davos to advance a fully on-chain financial infrastructure. The plan seeks to embed blockchain technology into payments, settlement, and core financial services at a national level, with USDC expected to function as a primary digital settlement asset. By leveraging established regulatory frameworks and support from major crypto firms, Bermuda intends to improve efficiency, transparency, and market connectivity in its economy.

On January 20, 2026, Animoca Brands co-founder Yat Siu said at the CfC St. Moritz conference that affluent crypto collectors who buy NFTs to hold, rather than trade, are helping sustain a market that still records about $300 million in monthly sales. He compared these collectors to traditional art buyers, revealed his own NFT portfolio is down roughly 80%, and linked the last-minute cancellation of NFT Paris 2026 to France's changing stance on crypto and growing security concerns.

Pendle plans to phase out its vePENDLE governance token and transition to a new liquid staking token, sPENDLE, with staking set to start on Tuesday and vePENDLE locks paused on Jan. 29. The protocol aims to simplify governance, reduce lock-up frictions with a 14-day withdrawal period or instant exit for a 5% fee, and expand interoperability so the token can be used across other DeFi platforms.